From rock to blues: Mahindra Group releases its line-up of curated cultural festivals for 2023-24

Last year, iconic festival Independence Rock returned after nine years. Photo Courtesy: Independence Rock

Mahindra Group has unveiled the much-awaited Cultural Events Calendar for the year 2023-24. From rock music, to performing and visual arts, to poetry and crafts, these incredibly enriching and impactful events are a true celebration of Indian culture and communities that aim to ignite a vibrant cultural exchange and create a magnetic pull for artists from across the world while prioritising millennial engagement.

Mahindra Group is a key player in the Indian live entertainment industry, known to host some of the most talked about events in the country. It has played a pivotal role in keeping the Indian cultural legacy alive across the globe with its tastefully curated events. Through time, these exclusive festivals with a strategic purpose have grown manifold in aspects of scale, footfalls and geographic locations, and have positively impacted the brand, its stakeholders and various art forms of traditional and contemporary India - leaving an indelible impression on its audiences.

And fuelled by this remarkable success, the Mahindra Group seeks to add greater impetus in enabling a spectrum of diverse audiences on an artistic discovery across North and South India via its cultural outreach initiatives.

Mahindra Excellence in Theatre Awards (META) is the only national level recognition in the field of theatre; Mahindra Blues Festival - the biggest blues festival in Asia - has hosted worldwide legends like Buddy Guy, Taj Mahal, Johnny Lang, Popa Chubby, Jimmy Thackery and the likes. The Mahindra Sanatkada Lucknow Festival launched in 2010 as a showcase of craft traditions, involving master craftsmen from the regions, has over the years transformed into a resplendent concoction of art, music, theatre, literature, dance, heritage, experiential exhibitions, and cuisine, in a grandeur intrinsic to Awadh. Mahindra Kabira Festival brings together the leading exponents of classical, folk and Sufi music and evocative poetry recitals, intending to be a beacon of love and hope in the Poet's place of birth, while promoting the city's cultural heritage.

In 2022-23, Mahindra Group resurrected the iconic Independence Rock fest which unfolded to be a roaring celebration of the genre, and also launched two new IPs - Mahindra Roots and Mahindra Percussion, all with an aim to offer a comprehensive symphonious experience comprising poetry, rock, classical, and folk music in multilingual forms. These powerful events together showcase artists and performances that strike a chord with everyone, particularly with millennials to strengthen their cross-cultural understanding and facilitate cultural preservation.

Mahindra Group's much-loved series of live events 2023-24 that form its Cultural Outreach initiative will yet again serve as a catalyst to preserving India's traditions while ensuring that these cultural practices continue to flourish in the modern world.

Jay Shah, vice president - Cultural Outreach at Mahindra Group, said, "People make culture, just as culture makes people. India's culture is a melting pot of diversity, steeped in rich history and heritage, and infused with numerous art forms, dialects and languages, creating a fertile ground for artistic exchange. Our Cultural Outreach Initiative is meant to bring communities together and promote the many aspects of the Indian cultural landscape that remain unexplored, particularly from the lens of the youth. After prospering for centuries many arts are now fighting for survival, many are struggling for mere acknowledgement. In the face of modernization and changing societal values, preserving these artistic traditions becomes imperative to safeguarding India's cultural identity. The endeavour is to present these dwindling art forms in a modernized fashion to millennials, bring in relevance and reignite the affinity for them. We achieved this to a great extent through the Kabira, Sanatkada and Roots festival
s last year. And so, we are thrilled to announce another year of power-packed cultural festivals and we hope it will drum up similar support and a loyal following for the years to come."

Listed below are the upcoming programmes that promise to take fans on a soulful, artistic journey with an element of discovery, making the fests the beating heart of Indian arts and culture.

Mahindra Independence Rock Festival (November 4 - 5, 2023): The rock festival was initiated to revive the rock scene in India through music alone besides providing the young independent rock musicians with a creative platform to express non-conformist ideas, freedom of speech, inclusivity, and equality.

Mahindra Kabira Festival (December 15 - 16, 2023): The Mahindra Kabira Festival is held annually on the historic ghats of Varanasi with an aim to unleash the mystic melodies and artistic vibes of the Poet-Saint Kabir and convey the essence of Kabir's philosophy to new-age audiences.

Mahindra Sanatkada Lucknow Festival (February 2 - 6, 2024): The Mahindra Sanatkada Lucknow Festival is an annual five-day affair dedicated to a beautiful slice of Awadh's syncretic culture.

Mahindra Blues Festival (February 10 - 11, 2024): Asia's largest Blues festival, and emerging as an iconic Western music event that has now embedded itself in the cultural tapestry of Mumbai by continuously showcasing the world's biggest blues names at Mehboob Studios.

Mahindra Roots Festival (February 24 - 25, 2024): Mahindra Roots Festival which made its debut this year, aims to revive and showcase India's multifaceted cultural roots embedded in performing and visual arts while enabling young minds to rise from their roots. The festival spans theatre performances, tribal music forms, immersive storytelling, folk music, classical music and poetry in multiple languages to bring millennial and Gen Z audiences closer to a melting pot of voices and art intrinsic to the pulse of India's cultural matrix.

Mahindra Excellence in Theatre Awards Festival (March 14 - 20, 2024): The META Awards has been serving as a platform that has levelled unknown theatre companies on the same stage with well-known ones. By far, the platform has presented over 100 theatrical masterpieces from all over India and is referred to as an institution that recognises, nurtures and promotes great theatre.

Mahindra Percussion Festival (March 23, 2024): The festival is a first-of-its-kind platform that traverses various music genres, led by resounding percussion beats while celebrating the heartbeat of music. Intending to democratise various art forms and with artists breaking creative boundaries, the Mahindra Percussion Festival evokes a celebration of rhythm that deeply stirs human emotions, creating a world-class cultural experience.

Over the years, the overwhelmingly positive reaction that these initiatives have received shows that Mahindra Group is fiercely committed and successful when it comes to the support and patronage of the arts. Recognizing India's penchant for extraordinary experiences, several companies have joined forces with Mahindra, including Hyperlink Brand Solutions which has conceptualised and executed four of the seven cultural events (I-Rock, MBF, MRF and MPF). The Cultural Outreach programme is designed for the long term and also amalgamated with philanthropic endeavours, much in tandem with Mahindra's Rise philosophy, one that ultimately seeks to create a positive impact for the community, the brand and Indian arts & culture.